I would from AT&T.... I'd never go to Sprint (horrible, horrendous doesn't begin to describe their 3G speeds) or even less Vericrap.

Wow, couldn't agree with you more on how bad Sprint is! I average .05kBps down and about the same up constantly down here in South Florida. 108 days until my contract is up (yes, it is so bad that I'm counting down the days)!!!!!!

The biggest factor is where they are going to use their phone the majority of the time. So, probably work and home. They need to find which provider has the best coverage.

Personally, I would say Verizon. That's what I have and I really like it. Excellent LTE coverage and I rarely, if ever, have dropped calls. Data speeds are fast and prices have gotten better with the Share plans. I get unlimited calls and texts and 4GB of data for $70 but then have to have the $40 data plan. My wife shares the account and we pay about $160 including our 19% work discount.

Honestly, all I generally hear are horror stories about Sprint unless you never leave a good reception area, which they seem to have fewer of.

Also, I upgraded to my iPhone 5 over the Internet through Verizonwireless.com. That said I would probably go into a store. I only really did it online because they were on back order and figured I could get one quicker that way.

PS - Guys, it doesn't sound like AT&T is an option because they want the work discount. Plus, overall I think Verizon is just as good, if not better than AT&T. That said I've never had AT&T so take it for what it's worth.

Thank you all for your feedback so far. I also want to add, they live in the Chicago NW suburbs.

You'll probably pay the least with Sprint, but they have a long, long history of being lousy in Chicago. For some reason they always seem to muck up the network there. It's not worth going with them unless you almost never talk on your phone and you're on good, fast wifi 95% of the time.

I would echo the calls to go with AT&T, but if you're really set on getting that 15% discount, Verizon is the lesser of two evils here. Even so, price out what Verizon will give you, and what AT&T will give you. Verizon's plans are a bit more expensive unless you're sharing 3 or more users on a single account, so the discount may actually be a wash.

I live downtown Chicago and travel to the burbs Just came from shaumburg mall. Anyway Sprint is fantastic out here. LTE Towers are up and running. I would go there. Cheapest best service in Chicago by far

I live downtown Chicago and travel to the burbs Just came from shaumburg mall. Anyway Sprint is fantastic out here. LTE Towers are up and running. I would go there. Cheapest best service in Chicago by far

You are the first person in this thread to be happy with Sprint

I do have 1 friend with Sprint and for where he goes, he's been fine with it. He's not at much af a tech geek as me though.

Have you ever tested using the Speedtest app? If so, what kind of speeds do you get?

You should have your brother and his wife ask around to get a feel for the service at work and home. Do any coworkers get terrible signal at work? Anyone have a good signal? What about friends/family who come over to visit?

I've gone as far as calling my friend on his cell phone from my home phone while he was in my house to test things out.

I would go with Sprint if they are always in the Chicago area and only travel for vacation. I know Chicago has LTE for Sprint and the speeds I have seen from people in that area are 20-30 download. Also, Chicago has the 800mhz voice up and running so they will get better in building penetration. Verizon is great almost all places except they are limited data and expensive. Verizon's speeds in NYC was 4-15 download. They are already loaded with a lot of people.

Sprint is rebuilding their towers with new technology right now. They will be better in the long run compared to Verizon.

Having said this, Sprint is still upgrading and will have poor service occasionally. If having fail proof service and no interruptions, then go with Verizon.

As for the stores, I would go with whoever gives the cheapest price on the phones. Apple stores are great but they are most expensive as well as the carrier stores. Check out Radio Shack and Sams club for discounts and activation waivers. That's what I always do. Every little bit counts.

I suggest buying four pre-paid phones one for each provider respectively. This will allow you to determine in the calling areas of interest TO YOU which carrier best suits. Sure they have interconnect agreements but that's not good enough (for me).

The little money it'll cost comparatively is worth it in the long run.

I'm in the Chicago area too. I had Sprint years ago (pre-iphone) was not happy with it. Later went with ATT for the iPhone. Dropped calls, could not use at home, terrible service. Switched to Verizon this year and so far no problems. No dropped calls (yet), can use while walking around the house. Of the three carriers I'd go with Verizon.

The problem is. There are a lot of unhappy sprint customers and rightfully so. It sucks outside of LTE. And there are people that just follow the heard and say its bad with no experience. Like I said. If they are in Chicago and vicinity they will love it. Anyone else on here actually from Chicago will agree with me. All others will bash it cuz they live in some Podunk town that hasn't upgraded yet. It's a slow process but sprint will show a lot here in the year to come

I have been on Verizon for over 15+ years and have tried AT&T a couple of times with a separate line and have found the service to be horrible (in my market), the customer service to be horrible (Verizon crushed AT&T again in customer satisfaction) and Sprint is just getting their LTE off the ground so I would say Verizon.

You can use a Verizon iPhone on any GSM carrier since it is unlocked out of the box you just won't get LTE on AT&T but their 3G HSDPA is pretty fast.

Well, I think they are going to go with AT&T or Sprint. AT&T is nice because of the simultaneous voice/data. Sprint is appealing to him because he is planning to add his MIL for a 3rd line and they have a $400 instant credit when switching over 3 lines. I have a feeling they will go with Sprint because of the unlimited data and the great credit deal. He has to get it done this week.